“What have I done,
sweet Jesus? What have I done?”
So begins Jean
Valjean’s tortured self-examination in the musical version of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.
He has betrayed
the Bishop, the first person to show him kindness in twenty years, by stealing some
silver. When the theft is discovered, the Bishop insists the silver was a gift, meant to help Valjean start a new life as an honest man.
The Bishop sees the spiritual death that led
Valjean to this point, and he chooses to give even more to bring Valjean’s soul
back to life. His generosity breaks the chains of bitterness and hate and frees
Valjean to learn to love.
We flare up in fierce anger when our trust is
betrayed. We fall into deep shame when we are the ones to break trust, by some
selfish act or thoughtless comment. These powerful emotions trigger us to
attack or to avoid, breaking the relationship even further.
In Jesus Christ, we discover God’s desire to
love us without limit and to heal our wayward hearts of all bitterness and
shame. Every time we forgive or allow ourselves to be forgiven, we take a step
into the true freedom of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment